Racism has absolutely no place in Australia's universities, and our sector condemns it in all forms.
Universities Australia's (UA) 39 members all have a role to play in ensuring our campuses are safe, respectful and welcoming places to study, work and visit.
This is not a responsibility our members shy away from.
Sadly, university campuses are not immune to racism in all forms, including antisemitism, Islamophobia and the experience of First Nations people.
Our sector has, is and will continue to work with the Government to respond to these issues as they play out on campuses.
UA's members have agreed to work with the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) and the Higher Education Standards Panel (HESP) to ensure we have a harmonised approach to dealing with these issues, consistent with our collective efforts to address all forms of discrimination.
In response to the rise of antisemitism in Australia, UA's 39 members have agreed to the recommendation of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights to adopt a clear definition of antisemitism that aligns closely with the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition.
UA's members have also unanimously endorsed the following working definition of antisemitism:
"Antisemitism is discrimination, prejudice, harassment, exclusion, vilification, intimidation or violence that impedes Jews' ability to participate as equals in educational, political, religious, cultural, economic or social life. It can manifest in a range of ways including negative, dehumanising, or stereotypical narratives about Jews. Further, it includes hate speech, epithets, caricatures, stereotypes, tropes, Holocaust denial, and antisemitic symbols. Targeting Jews based on their Jewish identities alone is discriminatory and antisemitic.
"Criticism of the policies and practices of the Israeli government or state is not in and of itself antisemitic. However, criticism of Israel can be antisemitic when it is grounded in harmful tropes, stereotypes or assumptions and when it calls for the elimination of the State of Israel or all Jews or when it holds Jewish individuals or communities responsible for Israel's actions. It can be antisemitic to make assumptions about what Jewish individuals think based only on the fact that they are Jewish.
"All peoples, including Jews, have the right to self-determination. For most, but not all Jewish Australians, Zionism is a core part of their Jewish identity. Substituting the word "Zionist'' for ''Jew'' does not eliminate the possibility of speech being antisemitic."
A uniform definition of antisemitism will help universities in their efforts to combat this scourge.
UA will provide this definition to TEQSA and request that it works with the HESP to best determine the positioning of the definition within the Higher Education Standards Framework.
There is no place for racism of any form in our universities, or anywhere else.
UA will continue to work closely with our members, the Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism, the Special Envoy to Combat Islamophobia, parliamentarians and community groups as we continue to respond to these issues.
Our sector also remains committed to tackling the challenges faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and staff. We continue to work to include these issues in our policies and standards.
Further context to the working definition of antisemitism UA's members have endorsed:
This working definition draws from a range of definitions. It draws particularly on the working definition developed by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) and recommendations of Antisemitism Taskforces at Columbia University, Stanford University, Harvard University, and New York University.
This definition has been developed for incorporation into relevant complaints schemes and disciplinary processes as soon as practicable and will also be used to educate about antisemitism.
Universities are required under statutory obligations, relevant clauses in Enterprise Agreements, University policies and procedures, Staff and Students Codes of Conduct, and their values, to combat antisemitism and other forms of racism.
All UA member universities support explicit action to combat antisemitism as part of their commitment to combatting racism and exclusion in all its forms.
